Open access peer-reviewed chapter
Submitted: November 10th, 2020 Reviewed: April 8th, 2021 Published: July 15th, 2021
DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.97644
Abstract
This chapter covers the basic concepts of the information systems [IS] field to prepare the reader to quickly approach the book’s other chapters: the Definition of information, the notion of system, and, more particularly, information systems. We also discuss the typology of IS according to the managerial level and decision-making in the IS. Furthermore, we describe information systems applications covering functional areas and focusing on the execution of business processes across the enterprise, including all management levels. We briefly discuss the aspects related to IS security that ensure the protection and integrity of information. We continue our exploration by presenting several metrics, mainly financial, to assess the added value of IS in companies. Next, we present a brief description of a very fashionable approach to make the information system evolve in all coherence, which is the urbanization of IS. We conclude this chapter with some IS challenges focusing on the leading causes of IS implementation’s failure and success.
Keywords
- information
- system
- information system
- IS typology
- Decision-making
- IS applications
- IS security
- IS evaluation
- IS evolution
- and IS challenges
Leila Zemmouchi-Ghomari*
- National Superior School of Technology, Algiers, Algeria
*Address all correspondence to:
1. Introduction
According to Russell Ackoff [1], a systems theorist and professor of organizational change, the content of the human mind can be classified into three categories:
Data represents a fact or an event statement unrelated to other things. Data is generally used regarding hard facts. This can be a mathematical symbol or text used to identify, describe, or represent something like temperature or a person. The data simply exists and has no meaning beyond its existence [in itself]. It can exist in any form, usable or not. The data exists in different formats, such as text, image, sound, or even video.
Information is data combined with meaning. Information embodies the understanding of a relationship as the relationship between cause and effect [2]. Ex: The temperature dropped 15 degrees, then it started to rain. A temperature reading of 100 can have different meanings when combined with the term Fahrenheit or with the term Celsius. More semantics can be added if more context for the temperature read is added, such as the fact that this temperature concerns a liquid or a gas or the seasonal norm of 20°. In other words, information is data that has meaning through relational connection. According to Ackoff, information is useful data; it provides answers to the questions: “who,” “what,” “where,” and “when.”
Knowledge can be seen as information combined with experience, context, and interpretation. Knowledge constitutes an additional semantic level derived from information via a process. Sometimes this process is observational. Ackoff defines it as applying data and information; knowledge provides answers to the question “how” For example, what happens in cold weather for aircraft managers? Observational knowledge engineers interpret cold by its impact, which is the ice that can form on an aircraft by reducing aerodynamic thrust and potentially hampering the performance of its control surfaces [2].
IF temperature